DuPage County Ethics Commission met June 15.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
1. CALL TO ORDER
10:00 AM meeting was called to order by Chairman/Commissioner John Demling at 10:00 AM.
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Benson, Cahalan, Clemen, Demling, Donner
ABSENT:
3. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR DEMLING
Chair Demling introduced two new Ethics Commission members, Suzanne Cahalan and Ted Donner. He also introduced the new Investigator General, Gregory Vaci, who was present at the meeting. He went on to thank and congratulate Nancy Wolfe for the years of service she has provided to the Ethics Commission and to DuPage County in general. She has served as the Investigator General for the DuPage County Ethics Commission for the past seven years and prior to that she was the First Assistant State's Attorney.
4. PUBLIC COMMENT
No Public Comment was offered.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Ethics Commission - Regular Meeting - Feb 9, 2022 10:00 AM
| RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Todd Benson, Commissioner SECONDER: Michele Clemen, Commissioner AYES: Benson, Cahalan, Clemen, Demling, Donner |
Jason Blumenthal, Policy & Program Manager, gave an update on the status of the online annual Ethics Training. He stated that 86.9% of County employees have taken the training. Regarding the outside agencies, Mr. Blumenthal stated that it gets a little challenging because the County does not control which employees are there and the agencies do not always edit when employees are no longer there so the numbers are a little skewed. He went on to say that 318 people have taken the training.
Mr. Blumenthal stated that as they look at making updates to the training for next year, he will be sending out the current training to the Commission for review to see if there is anything they would like to change. He also stated that he will be working with Daniel Hanlon, Ethics Adviser, and Gregory Vaci, Investigator General, on making updates to the scenarios used for the training that will later be presented to the Commission.
Chair Demling stated for the new members that, as a result of an intergovernmental agreement that was entered into with the City of Aurora, the DuPage County Ethics Commission also acts as the Ethics Commission for the City of Aurora. Mr. Blumenthal clarified that the City of Aurora is not required to take the County's training. They do not use the County's training module. However, the Ethics Adviser and the Investigator General have provided live training for them in the past. Chair Demling reminded the Commission that they are also required to take the Ethics training.
Chair Demling stated that the Commission had talked about having a mock trial. He also stated that during his time period with the Commission, it is not usual that they actually go through the full procedure of a trial. As seen from Investigator General's reports, a significant number of the
initial complaints are determined that we do not have jurisdiction over them. As a result, it is a rare instance that there is a trial or administrative hearing. He went on to say that it was thought to be a good idea to have a mock hearing so that in the event they were to have an actual hearing, the Commission would know what the procedure is like. Chair Demling stated that they had talked about doing a mock trial for this meeting, but because of the new membership coming in, it was put off. Mr. Blumenthal stated that he has spoken to Mr. Hanlon about it and because of the new members coming onboard, they had decided to put it off. He went on to say that now that we have everybody new, he will work with Mr. Vaci and Mr. Hanlon together on that. Mr. Hanlon stated that several years ago when Paul Moreschi was Investigator General, he had put together a packet of information and actually put on a whole hearing. Mr. Blumenthal stated that he has those materials, so all they have to do is a little editing.
7. NEW BUSINESS
A. FY2022 Investigator General Update
Mr. Blumenthal stated that Nancy Wolfe had sent her Investigator General report from the beginning of the year up until her last day. He informed the Commission that there was one complaint filed that was directed to the Investigator General between January 1, 2022 to May 23, 2022. A preliminary investigation was conducted. After completion, it was determined that under the Ethics Ordinance there was no basis to proceed with any action and the matter was closed. A decision was tendered to the Chairman of the Ethics Commission and the Chairman of the County Board and with that, the complaint was resolved. He went on to say that in addition to the reported complaint, seven individuals submitted messages or correspondence to the Investigator General. These messages were unrelated to the County's Ethics Ordinance and no action was taken.
Chair Demling stated that this was the first actual complaint where that was jurisdiction found. He also stated that Nancy did her investigation and provided a written report which he shared with the Commission. He went on to say that he found it very interesting to follow the legal logic and basis for her determination. Chair Demling informed the Commission that the report is to be kept confidential.
Chair Demling stated that, historically, the Ethics Commission was set up as sort of an investigative agency to take complaints, but it has transitioned over the years to an organization whose purpose is teaching and advising County employees and others under the Ethics Ordinance. He went on to say that he believes that has a lot to do with why there are so few complaints. Mr. Blumenthal agreed that more education makes it so that we do not have problems in general. He informed the Commission that last year it was approved for the Health Department to use the County's training which is an additional set of employees now getting the training. He stated that the Health Department is an outside agency so they do not use the County's training module, but they do use the County's materials.
Mr. Hanlon informed the Commission that his role is to advise anybody that is under the jurisdiction of the Ethics Ordinance as to how to comply or whether something they are about to do is in violation. He stated that he receives a lot of complaints about various agencies that are outside of our jurisdiction. Chair Demling stated that one of Mr. Hanlon's roles is to answer questions that an employee or someone covered under the Ethics Ordinance might have. He went on to say that this is one of the valuable resources we have for those covered under the Ethics Ordinance itself.
Chair Demling discussed moving the next meeting date from October 5, 2022 to October 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The Commission Assistant, Ms. Johnson, will make meeting room arrangements and will update the Commission accordingly.
8. ADJOURNMENT
With no further discussion, Member Donner moved, seconded by Member Clemen, with no further objection the Commission adjourned at 10:28 A.M.
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